Text to Textile: Why Material Culture Thrives while Classical Studies Decline

Researched and written by Abigail Bertram and Jacob Lindbert

Edited by Dr Pallavi Mohanan

Over the course of the twenty-first century, higher institutional academia has seen a swift shift within the studies of Classics, framing the entire discipline as in a declining state. The declining trends have been credited as evidence of a much larger and broader dilemma within the entirety of the humanities as a suggestion of the ebbing cultural interests in the ancient worlds. The contrast from this epidemic across the world of academia is the revolution of materially oriented fields that demonstrate the expansion of engagement within antiquity; including the fields within archeology, museum studies, dress history, and other ranges of material culture. Universities view their traditional classics programs as they have been historically structured with course work, exhibitions, and research while visual modern programs take these same aspects into account and embolden student interest all while maintaining scholarly legitimacy. The contradiction raises the fundamental question that if Classical studies are declining, then why do we find antiquity to be at the forefront of cultural institutions and contemporary academic programs. Traditionally, antiquity is approached through philological methods, yet contemporary academia has come to prefer access to the ancient past through images and objects that produce a more global framework creating a more robust understanding of the world. Antiquity can thus be seen as a redistribution across disciplines that prioritize visual and material engagement over traditional linguistic specialties. It allows for an opening in the conversation that there is little to a disappearance in antiquity, but rather a reconfiguration of how antiquity is approached. Traditional text-centered Classical studies in areas such as ancient languages and canonical text have steadily lost institutional support and student enrollment, while material based fields including dress history, museum studies, and other object-based research have expanded. 

Traditional Classical studies were held in high regard in Western higher education  throughout much of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Within this structured discipline, the intensive study of Greek and Latin, as well as the textual study of languages served as the root of philological education. Philology has been broadly defined as the linguistic, historical, and textual study of language that has serviced the methodological foundations of the classics field. Refining and mastering grammar, syntax, textual criticisms, and translations are the driving forces in which scholars are able to access the philosophical, cultural, and political aspects of antiquity (Porter, 2006). Homer, Virgil, Sophocles, and Cicero form a core curriculum in canonical texts with literary analysis functioning as the framework for which antiquity is understood. Using this traditional model, literature and language go hand-in-hand. Translation on its own is not sufficient in a true scholarly understanding of engagement with texts; thus, philological research requires an emphasis in linguistics and literary sources over that of material evidence. Material culture, on the other hand, has reshaped the defining aptitudes of classics by using objects and evidence as central sources of knowledge, rather than relying upon supplemental recounts and inference (Brown, 2001). Bill Brown’s Thing Theory discusses the exchange that happens with objects and humans; drawing from the presence of novels and art in tangent with the human approach to their function. Brown notes that literature and texts animate the objects that have relation, thus giving the material object a more symbolic meaning to the fabric of the word. For example, an ancient garment can be examined not only through literary descriptions of clothing but also through its construction, materials, patterns of wear, and potential role in communicating social status, gender, cultural identity, etc. Written sources may explain the symbolic significance attributed to particular garments, while surviving material evidence can reveal aspects of production, use, and bodily experience that literary accounts do not fully capture. Conversely, textual evidence can help contextualize an object whose original function or social significance is no longer immediately apparent. This reciprocal relationship illustrates how textual and material approaches can enrich one another, producing a more comprehensive interpretation of antiquity. 

The integration of these approaches is notably relevant to the development of dress history, which examines clothing as both a material object and a cultural expression. Dress history demonstrates how garments can be studied through the combined analysis of physical evidence, historical documentation, visual representation, and social practice. Its interdisciplinary character offers a potential model for expanding the methodological scope of Classical Studies, where philological analysis and material culture research have not always received equal emphasis within traditional curricula. Furthermore, dress history is a growing example within this context as costume and dress history academic majors and master’s programs have experienced both recent growth and sustained involvement. While formal quantitative data does not seem to be readily available in support of this claim, sustained involvement in programs like NYU Steinhardt’s Costume Studies MA (the first U.S. curriculum dedicated to the history of dress and textiles) and new 2026 programs like George Washington University’s Corcoran School of the Arts & Design minor in textile and dress studies, support that growth is present (NYU Steinhardt, 2026). 

In contrast to dress history and adjacent programs, traditional classical studies have faced many obstacles in recent decades due to culture and structural changes within higher education. Classics at one time were an elite pillar of education; as noted in Caroline Winterer’s book, The Culture of Classicism, nineteenth century United Kingdom and United States, ancient languages like Greece and Latin were required for admittance into a top university. The study, interpretation, and comprehension of ancient language developed American university programs past that of mere academic programs, but established legitimacy and cultural inheritance from the antiquated cultures (Winterer, 2004). As an academic distinction, language and canonical texts became both epistemological and social foundations for the foundation of programs. Due to the lack of exposure to ancient language prior to attending university, the humanities fields are flooded with significantly more acceptances than classics majors which traditionally have more parameters for acceptance. Funding has also had a significant impact on the restructuring of universities, forcing the issue of enrollment numbers and perceived career pathways that can be supported in this capacity. 

Classical programs that are deemed as hyper specialized or that require a number of prerequisites or workplace training prior to attendance are in danger due to a limited number of opportunities and student understanding. Neville Morley’s book Classics: Why it Matters speaks on the relevance of classics and wealth of practical and theoretical knowledge that is within (5). Morley discusses that there are evidentiary reasons as to why classicism and antiquity reestablished themselves through time and cultures; however, he writes that classists must take other disciplines seriously to merge research to evolve past the base of literary and artistic studies (87). The basis of classical studies, the philological model, is the reinforcement of the Eurocentric framework that leads to scrutinization. The critiques have insinuated that traditional classical studies are resistant to reform and diversification, propelling some institutions to stand their ground, while others have reevaluated programming. Contemporary students have adapted to modern elements within their schooling, shaping a need for classical education to adapt to accommodate new learning styles. Text-heavy disciplines within the philological model appear less accessible or appealing than that of the counterpart in material culture, evidence, and a global perspective. The cultural transformation of students and how one approaches education, in addition to the structural nuances, collectively have weakened the dominance of canonical centered classics. While the decline of traditional philological aspects have been seen, this does not attest to a shift of interest in the ancient world overall, however it aligns with the shift in engagement within antiquity. Material oriented fields have expanded in both institutional visibility and viability; more so, on the intellectual influence that has come from understanding the world as a whole. Aspects such as museum studies, cultural heritage, dress history, archaeology, and general material culture studies have become primary sources to the historical world rather than to be defined as secondary sources or supplementary evidence. The shift from canonical texts to the material displays the broader methodological turn in the humanities world towards the embodiment of visuality. Brown’s Thing Theory allows for theorists in material cultures to rationalize the appearance of objects within the historical scope as active participants in the overall construction of cultural justifications (2021). Allowing for this realization, the theory supports how objects can be utilized beyond the utilitarian function and support interpretive engagement. 

The study of antiquity has increasingly migrated in the direction of material disciplines. In archeology, material objects have long been considered vessels of historical knowledge, however in the areas of museum studies and dress history, the object subject matter has gone beyond the “dig” to provide more varied scopes for engagement. Ancient worlds are fascinating, but educationally for that of public consumption, audiences want things that can be seen, reconstructed, easily conceptualized, and translated. Museums serve as this vessel of accessibility for the public to have direct engagement with these objects on a more easily digestible level. Due to the global exchange that material objects and history can lend to, lived experiences are embedded within the objects themselves, allowing for a broader academic and learned experience to come out of the object. Within education, there are advantages to material studies that classics cannot duplicate via canonical lessons. Research within the object-based studies can foster public scholarship, exhibition development, and experiential learning which align with many modern university missions. Methodologies should not eliminate the need or significance of what textual evidence can bring to the table.  Each area is serviceable within their own space that all can be within their own form of historical data and knowledge. Ancient worlds and the lives and words that they consist of can expand tenfold when all matters of material, such as architecture, dress, and artifacts, can support the canonical texts, rather than simply leaving the texts alone. This describes one reason why classics programs have experienced a decline, with the cultural exploration of antiquity studies partially replacing traditional programs. 

The transformation of classical studies must have a theoretical framework that can account for the increasing visibility of images, objects, and physical forms within the humanities. Tangible culture is a foundational stone for this shift as it positions objects as significant historical actors as opposed to inactive canonical narratives. We look for these objects to invite interpretation as an embodiment of social relations, historical process, and cultural value as it allows for a full picture that cannot be captured alone through written text. Material artifacts can shape the human experience, binding the cultural ties, and manifesting in ways that do not allow separation from one aspect to the other. Artifacts that act as both symbolic and practical elements of history include tools, architecture, decorative objects, and clothing. Based on John T. Hamilton’s assessment on the state of humanities, these objects, big and small, all consume the needed evidence to reconstruct historical worlds in allowing for a deeper understanding of the past; and can at times, challenge the complacency that classics and antiquities have commonly drawn from (2022). Continuing, Hamilton determines the philological complacency rests on its laurels rather than expanding as a “basis for ongoing investigation, interrogation, and interpretation (2022, p. 104). Thus, the humanities are harming themselves tenfold by not expanding past what they know and expanding into the interpretive material objects. While classical scholarship can examine the ‘how’ of aesthetic forms, ideas, and images from ancient findings; the shaping of the historical contexts behind this scholarship is deepened through an analytical framework that is kinetic within the cultural traditions called reception theory. Allowing for the reimagining and conceptualizing of ancient models through the lens of museum practice and curation, fashion, and analytical art history provides a bolstered view that goes beyond a single moment in history, and grants broader scholarship for intellectual speculation. In modern academia, visual communication is essential to fill in any blanks that have been left when only taking textual analysis into account. Sculptures and clothing are able to fill the void and provide a more complete picture of historical experience, ideal for modern engagement within the ancient world. 

The shift from a text-centered to object-based approach for antiquity not only has a significant implication on students, but also to educators within the humanities departments. Traditional classical education requires extensive training within ancient languages, Greek and Latin, before students are able to immerse themselves in primary sources. The linguistic expertise necessary creates a barrier for potential students lacking in exposure as a result of decreased language learning in schools. The decrease or lack of one instance (language) created a continual issue that manifested as an entirety of a department shuttering its doors. The shift to object-based studies offers educators substitute strategies that will allow for students to engage with materials more immediately. Utilizing visual analysis and interpretation provides an alternative medium to engage and explore the ancient past without the need for vigorous linguistic knowledge. The accessibility that this small change in humanities accounts for allows for scholars at all levels to engage from numerous disciplinary backgrounds and contribute to the antiquity field. Even within the educational forum, museum and cultural institutions have been imperative sites for engagement as collections of artifacts are more accessible. Students can gain much from exhibit designs, programmings, and signage translations of scholarly knowledge, all of which assist in the accessibility of public consumption and experience. The bridging of academia and museum exhibitions display the interdisciplinary collaboration necessary for fashion studies, art history, and anthropology to survive and thrive in the modern context of education. 

The movement from text-centered ancient studies to material culture brings up the unavoidable question of what is lost and is there anything to be gained within this shift. One of the more prominent concerns within the decline of traditional philology pertains to the loss of deep linguistic expertise. A mastery of ancient languages has allowed scholars to engage with text in its natural, original form; yet, without this foundational knowledge, dimensional analysis and understanding of ancient intellectual life could very well be less accessible. The philological model of universities cultivates a need for textual engagement that can be difficult to replicate within more visual, modern approaches. With this unbalanced organization, there is concern that textual mastery and methodology can be exhausted. With the shift to material based culture, the highlight of utilizing sensory experiences, bodies, and objects can assist in reconstructing areas of historical life that are untouchable through many text sources. Material culture is all around, via architecture, artifacts, and clothing; each with their own touch and insight into the lived experiences that they have seen. Object based approaches can thus be seen as an expansion of the narrowed scope into ancient studies provided through the literary approach. The broader accessibility and integrative collaboration of material culture allows for the diverse backgrounds of students to all participate in antiquity allowing for a wider audience to be reached, not solely within museums, but universities and institutions as well. There is no need to replace textual scholarship completely, but the use of material and object based scholarship can compliment and enhance versed knowledge, while adding layered perspectives to the ancient world. The tension of defining what is lost versus gained reflects the conflicts occurring within humanities divisions, and the evolution necessary to maintain within the twenty-first century. The decline of classics does not signal a disappearance of antiquity from interest, but merely a need for adaptation to thrive within new intellectual and academic conditions. The recognition of the limitations and opportunities provides avenues for scholars to achieve more inclusive approaches in antiquity. 

While canonical classical studies may be on the decline, fashion studies and other interactive modes of education represent a new lens into the ancient world. The contradiction of philologically grounded classics does not solely demonstrate a disappearance from scholarly inquiry, but rather a redistribution across various disciplinary frameworks. Within university constructs, scholarship centered within the canonical formats, have seen a steady decline in both institutional backings and student enrollment leading to closures of programs. In contrast, material oriented fields, such as museum studies, archaeology, and dress history have continued to expand their scope in university settings through the motions of servicing alternative forms of analysis within ancient cultures. This transformation reflects a broader cultural shift within universities; changes in educational pipelines, funding areas, and interdisciplinary expectations have characteristically changed text based scholarship. Meanwhile, material methodologies have proven to be more adaptable to the modernizations occurring through the use of more publicly engaging approaches to the same historical inquiry. The decline of philology pertains to an erosion of  deep linguistic training and forms of textual intimacy that has long been associated with classical scholarship, however, the loss coexists with the advantages and wider accessibility of material culture. The future of ancient studies lies within the recognition of methodological plurality in which antiquity can be seen, studied, and understood. Antiquity has not vanished from the humanities, but it has had to adapt and change the ways of engagement. By embracing material culture and object based disciplines as collaborative figures to classical inquiry, scholarship can move beyond rhetoric and towards a more expansive understanding of the ancient world through contemporary expertise. 

Bibliography:

Brown, B. (2001). Thing Theory. Critical Inquiry, 28(1), 1–22.

Hamilton, J. T. (2022). Complacency. University of Chicago Press.

Morley, N. (2018). Classics : why it matters. Polity Press.

NYU Steinhardt. (2026, September 16). Costume studies. NYU Steinhardt. https://steinhardt.nyu.edu/degree/ma-costume-studies

Porter, J. I. (2006). What Is “Classical” about Classical Antiquity? Eight Propositions. Arion, 13(1), 27–61. https://www.bu.edu/arion/files/2010/03/Porter-Classical-Antiquity.pdf

Winterer, C. (2004). The culture of classicism : ancient Greece and Rome in American intellectual life, 1780-1910. Johns Hopkins University Press.